| |
Lead
Paint Poisoning Legal Efforts, Lead Safe House Program, and
Lead Poisoning Prevention Workshops |
| |
Lead
Paint Poisoning Legal Efforts
Lead
paint was banned for residential use in New York City
in 1960 and in the nation in 1978. However, New York City
still has the highest percentage of pre-1960 (63.5%) residential
housing in the nation. According to the New York City
Department of Health approximately 600,000 New York City
children under seven years of age are at risk of lead
poisoning. Legal services are critical to ensuring that
all landlords make the renovations necessary to prevent
lead poisoning.
Impact:
-
Matthew
J. Chachere, one of the city’s top lead paint
experts, spearheaded class action lawsuits to protect
children from lead poisoning.
-
After
finding the city “in contempt” four times,
the city was pushed to pass Local Law 1, a powerful
law that dramatically increased public awareness and
prevention.
-
In
2003, NMIC opened the Lead Safe House, which offers
temporary lead-free housing, screenings, education,
legal services, and case management.
For
more information on our Lead Safe house, click
here.
For
more information: Contact Mathew J. Chachere at
mathewchachere@ or 212-822-8309.
Lead
Safe House Program
According
to New York’s highest court, “childhood lead
poisoning may be the most significant environmental disease
among children in New York City.” Washington Heights
and Inwood forms the western portion of New York City’s
“Lead Belt.” There are more children at-risk
for lead poisoning in the Washington Heights and Inwood
community than in any other neighborhood in New York City.
The Department of Health reports that with 13% of Manhattan’s
population, our community had 58% of the reported cases.
Eighty nine percent, or approximately 65,000 apartment
units in Washington Heights and Inwood contain lead-based
paint.
Impact:
-
Since
we opened in 2003, we have provided families with housing
referrals, counseling, and help obtaining often difficult-to-navigate
education, rehabilitation, and medical services.
-
NMIC's
lawyers led a landmark class action suit on lead standards
that resulted in passage of Local Law One of 2004, which
effectively ended the weak and inadequate responses to unsafe
lead conditions that previously dominated city policy. We
continue to monitor the City's implementation of this law
through our work training tenants and our partnership with
the NYC Coalition to End Lead Paint Poisoning.
-
NMIC
won 2006 EPA Environmental Quality Award.
For
more information: contact Evelyn Suero, the Lead
Safe House Coordinator, at 212-543-0260 x 202.
Lead
Poisoning Prevention Workshops
To
find out when our next Lead Poisoning Prevention workshop
will be held, contact Evelyn Suero at our Lead Safe House
at call 212-543-0260 x202. For more information on our Lead
Safe House or Lead Prevention Program, click
here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
